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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

W.o.G. Wednesday: James 1:22-25


Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like but the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

I've recently been reminder of how very FALLEN I am.

This week, our sermon was about building your house on the rocks vs. the send. And how easy it is to pay lip service to our God but not DO them. Faith without Works is D-E-A-D dead. And works done for others and not for God...well, that doesn't count either!

I've been convicted and humbled by reading many God-inspired stories on your blogs (like Becca's and Melissa's).

And then many of YOU awesome readers left some INCREDIBLE comments on yesterday's post--listing your meaningful Christmas traditions that revolve around service and focusing on Christ's coming.

Me? Well, I can easily hide behind another Word of God (W.o.G.) post, throw up a relevant Advent verse and move on, not letting myself dwell on how lacking (in growth and zeal, among other things) my spiritual life has been lately.

You see, I've been caught up in the season of busyness and am incredibly ashamed to admit that I've let the meaning of Christmas slip by while I was occupied buying gifts, worrying about moving, trying to stay healthy (but failing! we're still sick!) and planning my holiday schedule...all without taking time to schedule a REAL quiet time to reflect on what this Christmas season brings.

In fact, I'll even admit that I let my daily devotional lapse thinking that it could be on my 2010 New Year's Resolution list.

Yes. Seriously! how bad is that?!?!

I've pushed away Christ in the midst of HIS season--where He came to be a Light to the World, I've snuffed it out so that I could focus on getting tasks accomplished.


BUT, there is HOPE!

Christ DID Come for us!

He DID die for us!

And it is NEVER too late to celebrate His coming or accept His sacrificial gift!

And here is a celebratory Christmas Hymn to go along with that!

Good Christian Men Rejoice
(meant to be sung with enthusiasm! Christ has come to SAVE us! AMEN!)

Good Christian men rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Give ye heed to what we say
News! News!
Jesus Christ is born today!
Ox and ass before Him bow
And He is in the manger now
Christ is born today!
Christ is born today!

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye hear of endless bliss
Joy! Joy!
Jesus Christ was born for this
He hath ope'd the heav'nly door
And man is blessed evermore
Christ was born for this
Christ was born for this

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye need not fear the grave:
Peace! Peace!
Jesus Christ was born to save
Calls you one and calls you all
To gain His everlasting hall
Christ was born to save
Christ was born to save

2 people think...:

Athena982 said...

Allie, what a beautiful post. It is amazing a how at these important holidays, Christmas, Easter, when we should be praising God, Satan is stealthily stealing our attention with silly distractions!

I appreciate, too, how you pointed out that humility -when we realize how much we are fallen- is not dwelling on that fact...but recognizing our weakness and moving forward. I struggle with "moving forward"! I once heard it said that true humility is not focusing on how bad we are, but how GREAT God is! And you've captured that very well :-) Thank you!

Kathy said...

I too admire your ability to move forward. I hope you know that although this is a very blessed time in your life is also very very physically trying..youhave a small baby and are growing another AND are under the weather...your time is becoming more and more not your own. Keep your focus on Him but please dont be too hared on yourself along the way :)